For my community service experience, I had the honor of student teaching in the three

and four-year-old classroom at the Fishback Center for Early Childhood Education. During my

time at the lab school, I completed home visits, performed assessments, created thorough lesson

plans, collaborated with families, led an inquiry investigation, and built strong relationships with

the students. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our time in the classroom was cut short,

prompting us to finish the rest of the semester online. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, I

used this as an opportunity to create fun ways for the children and me to virtually learn together.

This experience encouraged me to grow personally and professionally and made me more

confident in my abilities. I am grateful for this experience, as it allowed me to apply the

knowledge I have learned from previous courses and gain many skills that will apply to my

future teaching career.

During my student teaching experience, I learned that a superior teacher is one who

builds relationships with their students. This is essential for creating a successful learning

environment, as it encourages the children to feel more valued, respected, and understood in the

classroom. Another way in which an educator can build relationships is by understanding each

child’s interests and needs. To complete this task during student teaching, I completed beginning

of the year assessments for the children in my small group. I planned various activities to get an

understanding of the children’s developmental skills, knowledge, and curiosities. I then used my

findings to develop lessons that reflected where the children were at developmentally and their

areas of interest, and together, we completed an inquiry investigation. From this experience, I

realized that children are more engaged, excited, and eager about learning when it reflects areas

they are curious about.

I learned that collaborating with families is crucial for creating a successful learning

environment. Collaboration is important because families know their children the best. Parents

are knowledgeable about their child’s abilities and skills and can act as a great resource for the

educator. All children come from different backgrounds, cultures, religions, and values. This

means that not every child has the same experiences, and they more than likely learn differently.

During my student teaching experience, I realized that collaborating with families helped me to

understand each child at a deeper level and allowed me to be able to meet their individual needs

more successfully. I believe that collaborating with families begins with strong communication. I

communicated with my students’ parents daily through one on one conversations, emails,

telephone, and newsletters. I learned that building relationships with families encouraged the

parents to feel more welcomed, comfortable, and valued in the classroom.

Similarly, I also learned the true value of collaborating with colleagues. Being on a

teaching team with 4 other teachers, my teamwork skills grew stronger. I was blessed to have

respectful, helpful, and supportive colleagues that never failed to push me towards my greatest

potential. I am a true believer that the best form of learning comes from hearing the knowledge,

perspectives, and ideas of others, and this was prevalent during my student teaching experience.

Another way in which collaborating with colleagues served as a great resource for me is that

their frequent feedback encouraged me to reflect on my practices and grow professionally.

Finally, I learned how to take an active role in the teaching team and strengthened my

communication, collaboration, contribution, and constructive feedback skills.

Lastly, when it comes to flexibility, this is a skill that hasn’t always been a strength for

me. I was an individual who diligently stuck to a plan. However, this experience taught me that
even though planning is essential, it is important to understand that it is acceptable to stray from

the original plan. Every child learns and thinks differently, so it is vital to meet the needs of

individual children. A lesson plan is helpful, but it is not always necessary to follow it diligently.

Lessons do not always go as planned. I found myself in this situation during one of my small

group activities. A few children loved the activity, others were bored, and some had no interest at

all. Instead of feeling defeated, I adapted the activity to meet the needs/interests of each student.

The activity immediately became more successful. Finally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,

plans quickly changed, and my students and I were not able to finish the semester together in the

classroom. However, despite the challenging times, I remained flexible and found creative ways

to interact with my students virtually. This encouraged me to realize that not everything always

goes as planned, but if you remain flexible, you can overcome anything.